ALARABI: Will it be Hillary? FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, 11-14-08

Will it be Hillary?
By Ali Alarabi  –  Hillary is being considered for the top job at the State Department? Well, what does that mean for American politics and more, what does it mean for the Middle East? Whether will it be Hillary Clinton or Bill Richardson at the State Department it matters very little from a larger perspective. On the outset, and at any event  it looks like we are heading for a third Bill Clinton term. President-Elect Obama is filling his administration with Clintonites from Rham Emanuel for the White House Chief of Staff, to Obama’s fellow Chicago’s affluent Hide Park neighborhood as his senior advisor, to Robert Reich who is on Obama team of economic advisors and formerly Clinton’s labor secretary, and soon we will hear the name of Dennis Ross to be handed over the Middle East file to pick up where he himself left it during the Clinton Era.

HANANIA: Democratic convention aftermath, change or action? FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, 8-29-08

Not just “change,” America needs action

By Ray Hanania – The Democratic Convention may have been exciting for those privileged few who were in their front convention seats. But from the bleachers of mainstream America where most Americans sat in front of their TV screens, the convention started out slow and continued on predictably.

ALARABI: Why Arab-Muslim Americans should not vote for Obama, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, 8-25-08

Why Arab/Muslim Americans should not vote for Obama 

By Ali Alarabi – The candidacy of Senator Barrack Obama is a remarkable one by all accounts, from a historical perspective it is an unprecedented feat that an African American stands for the highest office in America and a candidate who was not born into wealth or political family. For Arab American and Muslim voters, however, an Obama-Biden ticket seems like good news for they have had to endure a long arduous 8 year journey of the Republican rule of Bush-Cheney administration that wrecked havoc in their personal lives, eroded their civil rights, a futile war in Iraq, and vehemently supporting Israeli’s occupation and destruction of Palestinian lands and peoples.

HANANIA: Bad week for moderate Arab Americans with Obama and Rezko, For Immediate Release, June 5, 2008

Bad week for moderate Arab Americans with Obama, Rezko and PAC
By Ray Hanania – On the same day that two prominent American presidential candidates swore their allegiance to the political agenda of Israel, a foreign country, 12 other Americans swore out a conviction for an Arab American who did what every other political fundraiser has done. Days before, the Palestinian American Congress, once the foundation of a growing moderate Palestinian American movement (which I headed), collapsed in political emotion endorsing the unrealistic demand that all the Palestinian refugees be returned to their homes and lands in Israel, rather than accept compensation and an apology. It was a bad week for the “Moderate voices” in the Arab American community. A bad week for them means a good week for the smaller but more influential high profile and loud-mouth extremists who are now turning to the community and saying, “See, we have to fight and use violence. Talking doesn’t work. We can’t get a fair deal in a country that is unfair.”

HANANIA: Obama’s victory far from secure, may need Clinton role, For Immediate Release, June 4, 2008

Obama’s victory far from secure, may need Clinton role
By Ray Hanania – I voted for Hillary Clinton in the Illinois Democratic Primary. At the time, I wasn’t sure who Barack Obama really was. I know Hillary from her years as First Lady and later as a New York Senator. She is formerly from Illinois. Obama was an obscure State Senator from the South Side who somehow managed to become a speaker at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and a U.S. Senator. Although I have been impressed on and off by his skills as an orator, I am not exactly sure what it is he brings to the table other than what everyone keeps telling me is “change.”

SHILLO: Mother’s Day gift from Hillary Clinton — “obliterate Iran” For Immediate Release, May 5, 2008

Mother’s Day gift from Hillary Clinton—Obliterate Iran?
By Saffiya Shillo – As a woman I was thrilled to see, in my lifetime, a woman run for president.  A woman that actually had a good chance at winning.  On the heals of the primary in Indiana and a Mother’s Day weekend, the race for Democratic Party nominee ends.  As it does, Mother’s across America need to seriously reconsider their support for Hillary Clinton.  She has crossed the line of motherhood by vowing to “obliterate” Iran this past week.  Threatening to kill mothers and children does not reflect well on American mothers.  She has revealed that she does not have the compassion and wisdom to be president.  The very thing people are looking for in a woman president. 

HANANIA: Can we “obliterate” the emotion-filled election pandering, please? For Immediate Release, May 4, 2008

Can we “obliterate” the emotion-filled election pandering, please?
By Ray Hanania – I think I actually now prefer a president who can’t properly pronounce the word “nuclear” over someone who keeps using it like the theme in a “Get Out the Vote” election strategy. Hillary Clinton said she would “obliterate” Iran if the Persian nation were to use a nuclear weapon against Israel. My guess is Israel can take care of itself. But vowing to “obliterate” Iran sure doesn’t hurt when you face the very likely possibility that the only way to win the Democratic Party nomination is to steal it.

HANANIA: Obama “controversies” bring out America’s underlying race problems, For Immediate Release, April 29, 2008

Obama “controversies” bring out America’s underlying race problems
By Ray Hanania – Some people say the controversy surrounding presidential nominee Barack Obama is about his policies and his controversial associates. But the real issues underlying everything in this presidential election is race and the failure of America’s to really get past the racial divide that up until the late 1960s was characterized by hatred, violence and a Black-White divide.

HANANIA: Something annoying about Hillary Clinton, For Immediate Release, April 23, 2008

Something annoying about Hillary Clinton
By Ray Hanania – There’s something about Hillary Clinton that’s starting to bug me. As a very independent Democrat who originally leaned heavily towards Hillary Clinton against the tide of Illinois support for Barack Obama, her negative attacks against Obama and smug-sounding cockiness in winning the Pennsylvania primary – one state – is bugging me.

HANANIA: Mainstream racism only becomes an issue when it is convenient, For Immediate Release, 03-07-08

Only Blacks, Muslims and “others” required to repudiate “their” bigots
By Ray Hanania – When controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan endorsed Barack Obama in a three-hour speech, the outcry demanding that Obama denounce Farrakhan was deafening. And the criticism of the widerspread racism against Muslims, Blacks, Arabs and “others” only became important as a way for mainstream media and leaders to defend themselves against the truth that they are more racist and bigoted than anyone associated with Obama who has ever said anything terrible about other people.